Optimization, kinetics, physicochemical and ecotoxicity studies of Fenton oxidative remediation of hydrocarbons contaminated groundwater

Fenton oxidation remediation of hydrocarbons contaminated groundwater was investigated for efficiency and effectiveness. 10% pollution was simulated in the laboratory by contaminating groundwater samples with diesel and domestic purpose kerosene (DPK) in two different experimental set ups. Optimum conditions of concentrations of the treatment solutions and pH were established: 300 mg/L (FeSO4), 150,000 mg/L (H2O2) and pH = 3 for the kerosene contaminant; 100 mg/L (FeSO4), 300,000 mg/L (H2O2) and pH = 3 for the diesel contaminant. The results from kinetics study show that the remediation process is pseudo-first order reaction with a rate constant of 8.07 × 104 mgL−1hr−1 and 3.13 × 104 mgL−1hr−1 for the diesel and kerosene contaminants in that order with 95.32% and 79.25% reduction in chemical oxygen demand (COD) for diesel and kerosene contaminated samples at the end of the remediation process respectively indicated that remediation have occurred significantly. Percent reduction in Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon (TPH) as kerosene was 89.84% and that of the diesel contaminant as 91.87% after 6 hours of remediation. The general pollution index (GPI) for the hydrocarbons contaminated samples was in the range of 6.70-7.52 against the background value of 4.39 for the control groundwater sample. After treatment the GPI had dropped to 4.13-4.43 which depicts remarkable remediation although the samples remained impaired. Therefore there is the need of post-treatments to make the groundwater fit for domestic and agricultural uses. The application of the Fenton oxidative process is found to be very efficient, effective and rapid in reducing total petroleum hydrocarbon as kerosene and diesel as target contaminants.